You Don't Know Me
by wanderingninjas
Summary: "You don't know me." "But maybe I want to." Nine short words will change their lives forever. ST. FABRAY.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **First of all, I don't plan on continuing this any time soon. I will, someday though, if I can. It's really more of a preview to a planned story. I have no idea when I'll ever write it, but I do plan on using this as a scene somewhere in it. Take it in whatever context you want, granted the given information. Make up your own explanation as to how Quinn came to be where she is, I don't care. Just keep in mind that if you put this on story alert (please do) it'll be a long time before it's updated. Unless, of course, there's an overwhelmingly positive response. Then I just might consider starting on it sooner.

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"You don't know me." Quinn Fabray's harsh gaze drilled into the curly haired boy that was standing before her. Who was he to think that he did? Sure, he may have been in glee club for a short time with her, but he had been there specifically to spy on them and to bring Rachel down. Jesse St. James had never bothered with anything more than a second glance at pregnant girls like her.

"But maybe I want to." Her snort of disbelief following his statement echoed down the hallway of the UCLA dorm.

"Sure you do, St. Jackass. Just as surely as you never meant to smash Rachel's heart to into bits."

The normally charismatic boy just smiled sadly at her stinging words. "Actually, you've got that right. I never wanted to hurt Rachel. No one may believe it, but I really did love her once. What's it to you anyway? As I recall, you weren't particularly fond of her."

Quinn just laughed derisively at his accusatory words. This was getting _really _irritating. The self-important Broadway dreamer having a good memory did not give him the right to try and use her past against her. The past was _past_ and Quinn be damned if anyone here in California was going to hear even a whisper of it. Jesse St. D-bag here was _not _going to ruin her fresh start.

"Me not liking the diva because she ruined my life does not negate the fact that you were a douche to her, St. James. Don't think I forgot," the blond-haired beauty snapped at the boy.

"I'm not like that anymore. People change."

That was a load of bullshit if she had ever heard any. Frankly, speaking crap like that was crossing the _line. _

"No, they don't. Trust me, people don't change. I would know," Quinn growled at Jesse.

The wide smile that had been steadily growing larger on his face (as had Quinn's irritation at it) grew even more at her words. Which really did not make sense, Quinn thought. But then again, it seemed as if nothing with Jesse ever made sense.

"Maybe that's true of most people, Quinn, but not of me. Really, I have changed," he said really quite earnestly, although this did nothing to defuse her distrust of him.

Her scowl grew deeper as she growled at him, "Listen here, St. Asshole. People. Do. Not. Change. I know. I've experienced it, I'm evidence of it. Puck told me he would be there for me whatever I did with our baby, and then he abandoned me after I gave her away. I was a bitch before my Babygate scandal, and I'm a bitch now, even if not quite as big of one. And you, you are still the same fucking ass who used Rachel and almost destroyed our glee club. Maybe you don't go around trying to destroy people's hopes and dreams anymore, but you are still that person at heart, I would bet on it."

Well. So much for keeping her past under wraps.

Finally, the maddening smile on his disgustingly handsome face dropped. "Fine, Princess, if that's what you think, I can't change that now. But I swear to God, if it's the last thing I ever do, I _will _convince you I've changed."

Quinn observed the suddenly determined expression Jesse now had. Despite all his bravado, she was quite sure that nothing he would ever do could convince her that he wasn't a self obsessed douche bag.

"Good luck with that, St. James," she finally said, and turned to retreat to her own dorm room.

Once she had reached the door and placed her hand on the door knob, she heard that same annoyingly appealing voice drift down the hallway after her.

"And I _will _get to know you, too, Fabray!"

For a moment, the blond contemplated giving him an answer but decided against it and instead just smirked to herself. Like _hell _Jesse St. James would ever know anything about her.

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**I know I said it'll be awhile before I update, but reviews would still be nice. Like... real nice. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Sooooooo I decided to continue this story sooner than I thought after all! Right now, this is where the story actually starts. The previous chapter remains as a preview, and will appear again later on in the story. I can't guarantee how often I'll be able to update, but I'm going to try for once a week. However, _try _is the key word there, and judging by my progress on my other story _Falling Too Quickly_, there isn't a guarantee I'll be able to update as often as I'd like. But, on scout's honor, I promise I will try.

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Quinn approached her mother warily. The older woman was sitting in one of the airport's numerous small cafes, sipping a cup of coffee and reading a heavy looking book.

Or so it appeared.

In actuality, Quinn knew her mother was desperately trying to come up with some way to convince her to stay in Ohio. Ever since she had decided to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, all Judy Fabray had been begging her youngest daughter not to leave, or at least not go that far away. The relentless pursuit had driven Quinn up a wall more times than she could count in the last six months and more than once she had actually considered staying just to shut her mother _the fuck up, _but in the end, her infamous obstinacy overcame the pressure. There was no way she could bring herself to stay in Lima, or Ohio at all.

More than anything, Quinn needed a fresh start. It may have been more than two years since she gave birth to Beth, but people in Lima still viewed her as the girl who could have had it all, but instead fucked herself over with one mistake thus ruining any shot she had in life. But Quinn knew very well that she was _not _ruined. All that she needed to start over was a change of scene, a change of pace, a change of _people_. And she wasn't going to let her mother take that away from her, no matter how guilty it made her feel.

"Mom."

The blond woman looked up at her daughter with a false smile plastered on her face. "What, sweetie? Changed your mind?"

With a roll of her eyes, Quinn seated herself at the small table and removed the book from Mrs. Fabray's hands. "You've got to stop this, Mom. You know I haven't changed my mind, nor will I. And even if I wanted to stay, my flight leaves in half an hour. It's too late by now."

"Oh, Quinnie. It's never too late. I hope you know that. Even when you're at school, I just want you to know that you can come home whenever you want," Mrs. Fabray replied. Despite her words, Quinn could tell from the crushed look in her eyes that her mother had finally acknowledged, even if only to herself, that her baby girl really _was _going to California. Another flash of guilt twinged at her heart, but the blond girl refused to let her mother sway her. It was partly Judy's fault that Quinn needed this so badly anyway, and the older woman had no right to make her daughter stay.

"I know that, Mom. Thank you... but we both know I'm only coming home for holidays."

Mrs. Fabray just sighed sadly and picked her book back up to begin reading it in earnest. Quinn opened her mouth, desperate for words to make her mother feel better, but she knew there weren't any. So she just echoed the sad sigh and pulled her iPod out. After a few moments of scrolling through her playlists, she finally chose the mix she had made a few weeks ago. Leaning her head back against the wall, Quinn closed her eyes and let the music overcome her.

A few minutes later, just when the music had started to ease the battered mix of nerves, guilt, and fatigue that was warring at her mind, Mrs. Fabray's voice once more snapped into Quinn's conscience.

"Quinn."

She just moaned slightly in reply.

"Quinn. Open your eyes and take out your headphones," Mrs. Fabray commanded. Angrily, she followed her mother's order. As soon as her eyes were open, she saw exactly what her mother must have been alerting her of. Her breath caught in her throat and she unconsciously pushed herself to her feet to face the boy that had appeared from nowhere in the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport.

"Finn," she choked out in a hoarse whisper. "What are you doing here?"

Was he _trying _to cause her more pain? They had gotten back together right before senior year started, after Rachel broke up with him for Puck. Despite the fact that he had forgiven her a long time ago, their relationship still hadn't really worked. This, and the fact that Quinn was determined not to have any more strings attached to her than needed when she left for her new life, had led her to break up with him at the beginning of the summer.

A small smile played onto the boy's handsome features as he gazed at the girl who had broken his heart more times than he could count. "Hey, Q. I... I just needed to see you one last time before you left."

"Finn... we went over this. We can't... _I can't_ do this."

Although he knew it was too late for them, Finn drew Quinn into his arms and held her close for a long time.

"I know, Q. We're over," he murmured into her ear. "I just... I really needed to see you, okay? There's always going to be part of me in love with you, no matter what. And that part of me would _not _rest until I saw you again."

Quinn laughed quietly to herself and buried her face further into Finn's broad chest. Even if they never would have worked, she knew there would always be a part of her that was in love with Finn Hudson as well. She allowed herself to relish in his comforting presence one more time before she left him forever.

"I love you too, Finn," she whispered.

"I have something for you," he murmured back and then stepped away to pull a small box from his pocket. Upon seeing the worried look in her eyes, Finn laughed and said, "Don't worry, Q. I'm not proposing. I _know _we're over."

He opened the box to reveal a silver ring. Quinn removed it from the box to examine it more closely. Finally she looked up at Finn and murmured, "It's beautiful, Finn."

"Look at the inscription on the inside," he urged her. Holding it up to the light, Quinn could see her initials, _QCF_, engraved on the inside of the metal band, and on the opposite side, Finn's initials, _FCH_, engraved there.

"It's just something to remember me by. To remember _all of us _by. I know you're determined to start all over Quinn, but I thought one tiny reminder of who you were wouldn't hurt," Finn whispered when he saw a small tear leak out of the corner of her eye.

Quinn seized him in a hug once more. "Thank you."

After squeezing her closer for a moment, he whispered, "Promise me you won't forget."

The blond haired girl looked into Finn's brown eyes and whispered, "I promise." The boy smiled, and Quinn couldn't help but stretch up and give him one last kiss before she left his life forever.

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**Like I said last chapter... Reviews would be nice. And they'd probably motivate me to update faster too. Just sayin'... **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I figured since that today is my last day off before I have to go back to school, I might as well write another chapter to this since I _totally _don't have a hundred other things to do right now. This chapter's mostly filler, with pretty much no dialogue, but I figured if I wrote it this way I could skip the awkward leaving the airport and getting to the UCLA campus phase. Sadly, there's no still no Jesse (at least not in person). However, I'm going to intro him in the next chapter or maybe two. Enjoy!

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Quinn had fully intended to sleep her entire way to California, as the flight to LAX was seven hours, but after the encounter with Finn, there was really no way she could fall asleep with her brain refusing to shut up. A million emotions, namely guilt, bombarded her senses from the moment she had stepped onto the plane. She had done so much to hurt Finn over the years, and here she was, leaving him behind yet again. It was true, what she had said- she did love him, but they both knew they would never really work out. Of course, that couldn't stop the pain she felt from walking away from him.

After wasting an hour trying to sleep, Quinn finally gave up and reached down to her bag, digging through it to find her laptop. Despite the fearless, unworried facade she had put up for her mother and friends at the idea of UCLA, Quinn was truly terrified of leaving her life behind. However, being Quinn Fabray, she wasn't going to let fear stop her from starting her life over. But since she wasn't to California yet, she resolved that she could allow herself relish her high school memories one last time. There were numerous videos of the glee club saved on the laptop, some of actual performances, and others of them just goofing around. In all, there were about one hundred videos, and Quinn couldn't bring herself to pick and choose what to watch, so she decided to watch them all, or at least as many as she could before she landed.

By the time the flight was within thirty minutes of Los Angeles, Quinn had watched about seventy of the videos. Many had brought laughter to her lips (and several glares from other passengers), and others had brought tears to her eyes, such as the performance at that first Regionals, or their Nationals winning routine from just last spring. Deciding she had time for one more video before packing her bag, Quinn pressed the next button on the computer, fully expecting a video from some random Invitational she couldn't remember. Instead, she found footage of not New Directions, but Vocal Adrenaline performing _Bohemian Rhapsody_. Her first instinct was to shut it off immediately, but the girl's natural curiosity got the better of her, because she had no idea how the hell it had gotten onto her laptop, and frankly, Vocal Adrenaline had been just too good back then not to watch.

Quinn tried to remember when the video was from, as she was certain she had never seen the performance at all. Then she noticed the all too familiar face that was singing lead. _Jesse St. James. _So this... this was their performance at Regionals sophomore year. Quinn's throat clenched as she came to this realization, because that meant she had been giving birth while this had happened. She hadn't thought of Beth's actual birth for a long time, and the painful memory became too much. Reminded of why exactly she was going to California, Quinn slammed the laptop shut without bothering to listen to the rest of the admittedly quite fabulous performance. She shoved her the laptop back into her backpack and grabbed her iPod.

A while later, Quinn's eyes snapped open at the sound of a very bored flight attendant's voice drifting over the speakers. "The plane is about to land. We ask all passengers to secure their seat belts now, as the descent will begin in about two minutes. If anyone has forgotten how to fasten the seat belt, instructions are printed on the ceiling above you."

The next fifteen or twenty minutes were a blur for Quinn. _She was finally here. In Cali fucking fornia! _Her recent qualms about leaving Lima and her old life behind were gone as excitement took its place. At last, Quinn would get her fresh start, a chance to become a whole new person, in a place where _no one_ had to know about her past.

It was _incredible_ to think about, to say the very least.

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**Reviews=Virtual love. Don't forget that, y'all.**


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